A f emale experienced English teacher looking for a job in Riyadh

Hello my dear friend Rawen,

First of all I welcome you and your family to the Expat.com and to Saudi Arabia.

Teaching English is Saudi Arabia or that matter any where in the world is a rather tricky subject. If you are an english language teacher in your "home country' eg  Korea, Singapore Pakistan or Tunisia, as long as you are okay in english and you have some experience, you would continue a carrier.

The picture changes dramatically as soon as you step out of your country. The educational institutions schools and universities look for, and openly advertise a 'Native English Speaker'. I do not know if you are a qualified ESL, have experience in teaching students for TOEFL and IELTS tests, your competence will always be viewed with skepticism and doubt. I know in the civilized world we do not discuss race, colour of skin and cast etc. but it is a fact that in the middle east the top positions of english teachers go to 'whites'. I know some British born and British national Indians and Pakistanis who are highly trained and qualified who face this 'acceptability' problem, nevertheless nationality of UK, USA, Australia or South Africa helps.

In addition to this I have also noticed some english teachers who have a genuine 'accent' or 'pronunciation" issue. If a teacher is teaching Engineering, Management, Economics etc. the english is not very important.

My suggestion is that if you continue your carrier here as an english teacher, you will begin with 'handicap disadvantage' therefore at this stage it may be worth looking at other venues also. If your arabic is good , there are lots of openings in embassies and trade offices for 'english-arabic-french' tri linguals.

There is an old quote " All the people are equal, but some people are more equal than others."

These are my personal feelings and observations, what really matters is how impressive  your CV  is and how impressive and confident you are during the job interview!

For English teachers it would be an advantage for you if you have taken the following:
Take the IELTS exam for your credentials and you should have a high band score for that exam.
Take the Prometrics examination for Teachers for you to have a license as a teacher here in KSA.

If you don't have any of this, some well experienced teacher landed to work as preparatory educators. Unless you have a job request from international schools, you'll get a better position.

Hi,
thanks for ur welcome, and  observations  !Well , I am Tunisian . I ve been teaching in public secondary schools for 8 years. Here , I am in charge of teaching the baccalaureate pupils ( equivalent to GCSE ) in recognition of my efforts  and teaching effectiveness . I know that it is not the same out there for the reasons u  ve already  mentioned . Two years ago ,  I  passed the IELTS exam with 6 , 5 band score . I got 8 out of 9 for the speaking part . The exam conditions were not really helpful for a pregnant woman just two weeks before delivery  and having travelled thrice  300 miles to sit for it    . I  helplessly wish I could improve the score but it is hard for the above reasons . I think  u meantcertificates like the TEFL  TESOL  and CELTA are helpful too . For the same distance problem it is hard for me . That's why I ve been considering getting one online . Still , I wonder whether  certificates from online universities are recognised .  About my language skills I can say I am a good translator especially from   and  to Arabic . Actually , I ve been told about jobs in embassies but I don't exactly know which ones exactly . I browsed the websites of embassies in Riyadh and I found that it is only the American one that advertise for such positions  . Any help ? what did u mean by  trade offices ? any links ? thank u

Hi Felafel , thank u for response ! I s an offer by international schools a good opportunity ? Indeed , Ive been asked to send my CV to el ALAMEEN international school but I am still inquiring about the whole situation

All the best for you! let us pray for that!

Rawen  Assalam o alakum,

TRADE OFFICES

These are the commercial wings of the high commissions in Saudi Arabia operation under most of the countries. Examples are Korea Trade  Centre, Australian Trade commission etc.

The problem is most of the jobs are filled by word of mouth and 'personal connections', these are rarely advertised..